Looking through my journals and email, I found out that I was wishing for a lot of good things to happen. I claimed to be “hoping,” but I did not/could not be confident the desired outcome would happen. That is not what hope is about. Hope is more than wishing. [Want to know more? Click here.]

Thursday, August 9, 2018

As I studied 1 Samuel 11, I didn’t have any great insights
leading to practical application for me. The notes I referenced, Tom Bradford’sTorah Class,
told readers of the historical books to be looking for patterns that occur over
time and throughout the books of the Bible.

His thoughts were that things and events in Scripture do not
happen in isolation. The events in Scripture build upon one another. I think we
should have started our study of these historical books in the book of Judges,
but even then there are links and patterns dating even further back in history.

For instance, 1 Samuel 11:6-7 give us an account of the way
Saul called all the people of Israel together – by cutting apart two oxen and
sending parts to each of the tribes with the message to all the able-bodied
warriors to meet Saul in Bezek. The purpose was to form an army strong enough
to go out against the army of Ammon who had severely threatened a town in
Benjamin.

It’s kind of gruesome; however, it was not done in
isolation. It actually had occurred before where the individual cut up was a
man’s concubine who had been murdered by the people. In that situation, the
tribes were gathered together to avenge those who did this wrong to the woman.
Here, in 1 Samuel, Saul is reminding the tribes of this incident and asking
them to come defend the city where that man had lived, kind of as pay back. (See
Judges 19-21 for the background and beginning of this pattern.)

There are many more examples of events that happened in this
chapter that can be seen as a pattern throughout the history of Israel. Without
the help of the commentators, they are sometimes hard to see. I think, as we do
our daily reading of the Bible, we need to take into account the whole picture.
This is why Bible reading is as important as daily excursions into individual
passages or chapters (Quiet Times), and deep and devoted time spent in Bible
study. We need the overview. We need to watching for patterns and repeated
commands so we don’t see each event and situation in isolation from the rest of
Scripture. If you are not currently doing an “overview” type of reading the
Bible, just start somewhere, keep track of where you’ve been, and look for the
patterns.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

1 Samuel 10 gives the account of how Saul was both privately
and publicly announced as king of Israel. Part of Samuel’s conversation with
Saul in private included a series of events that would happen to confirm to
Saul that Samuel’s message was from God. These prophecies immediately occurred
and, hopefully, confirmed to Saul that he was designated by God to be the first
king of Israel, although Saul was initially not very excited about the idea.

Samuel gathered all the tribes of Israel so God could reveal
the anointing of Saul to them. After a process of elimination, Saul was the
“chosen” one, however, Saul could not be found. He was hiding with the baggage.
We are not told why he was doing this; it could be from humility, fear, reluctance,
or something completely different.

Before the choosing process occurred, the Lord spoke to the
people through Samuel. “Thus says, the Lord, The God of Israel, ‘I brought
Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and
from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ But you have
today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your
distresses; yet you have said, ‘NO, but set a king over us!” (1 Samuel
10:18-19).

The point I want to look at comes from the description God
gave for what He did for the people: “delivered” and later, “delivers.” Some
translations use the words “saved” and “saves.” This is an account of God’s
salvation being freely offered to the people of Israel. The same salvation He
offers to us. Notice, God said He saved them before they had one word of the
Law. The Laws is not, then or now, the means of salvation. Salvation is a
choice God makes and provides a way for us to access it through faith.

This is an important truth for every person on this earth. Following
the precepts and statutes of the Old Testament saves no one. That is not the
purpose of the Old Testament, even the first five books, the Law. Romans 3:20
tells us the purpose of the Law: “Therefore no one
will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of our sin.” The Old Testament account here
of the words of God reveals the same truth to us. This is the message of all of
Scripture. This is the truth from the beginning of time.

Whether a Jew or Gentile we are
saved apart from the Laws God gave Moses. It’s been salvation then Law since
the beginning of time. Therefore, we should not expect people to follow the
Laws (of society or of God) before they are saved. Obedience to the Law only
becomes possible after being saved. Let me say it again: it is not the Law that
saves us. It’s God’s grace and mercy and power.

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by Mary B. GrimmFROM THE FOREWORD: Mary’s journey has involved facing the dysfunction of her family of origin, her ways of coping through addictions and compulsions, wrestling with diabetes and bipolar disorder. In the process she has gleaned valuable, hard earned truths. Her willingness to offer these truths to you and me is a gift that has come at great cost.